The Significance of Dreams
by NerdyJibbsOreo
Summary: Probie Jenny has an awkward dream about her boss, and she's pretty sure life is out to get her. Inspired by the episode "Home of the Brave" (14x7).


_A/N: Some of the dialogue is taken straight from "Doppelganger" (2x12), and "Home of the Brave" (14x7), and does not belong to me._

 _I am using a few of those funny scenes from "Home of the Brave" – I have just replaced Alex with probie Jenny, and added a lot of my own bits to it all. When I watched this episode, I couldn't stop thinking how this situation totally seems like something that would happen with Jibbs, so I had to do something about it. It's nonsense._

* * *

Jenny Shepard found herself on the front porch of his house for the first time – her boss; Leroy Jethro Gibbs. After having stayed at the office even later than Gibbs tonight, she was here to deliver some new information that had come up on the case, even though it wasn't at all critical. She could have just called him, she could have even waited until the morning – but her curiosity got the better of her; she was interested to know more about his personal life. According to Decker and Burley, Gibbs worked late into the night building a boat in his basement, and she wouldn't believe it until she saw it for herself.

He didn't come to the door and answer her knocks, and when she tried the doorknob she found that his door was unlocked.

"Figures," she muttered. He probably thought himself so macho and invincible that he didn't bother to ever lock his door. It was so 'Gibbs'.

She walked in and shut the door behind her, not really sure what to do – she worried he may actually be in bed at this point, it was just after twenty three hundred.

It was strange to be walking in unannounced to your boss's house, especially when you've never been there before. She walked forward and looked around hesitantly, deciding to ignore the dark stairs and go into the living room to the left, her heels clicking on the floor as she walked.

The house was dark, aside from the one lamp that was on in the living room, and a dim light coming from what looked like the kitchen. She walked forward, deciding to head towards it, passing through the dining room into the kitchen, where the light was emanating from a door that was slightly ajar. She opened the door and peeked through; it was a small laundry room with another open door to the right, where she headed through next.

She found herself on the top of some wooden stairs, looking out into what must be the infamous basement. She looked around and arched an eyebrow in surprise.

There really was a boat, and Gibbs did appear to be working on it. He was slightly bent over, his back to her, and she realized her eyes had lingered far too long on his butt – his jeans certainly did it justice when he was bent like that.

"Gibbs," she greeted, causing him to turn and look up at her.

He didn't say anything, his usual blank expression on his face. He ignored her and went back to what he was doing.

"I'm sorry to drop in unannounced, hope I didn't startle you..." she trailed off somewhat sarcastically, silently trying to gauge his mood. She just stared at him, waiting until he acknowledged her.

"It's fine, Shepard," he finally said, glancing up, "Heard you come in, the heels, knew it must be some woman I know."

"I'm guessing I'm not the woman you expected? Or perhaps, wanted?" She fished, smirking.

"Well, you weren't an ex-wife," he replied, as if that answered everything.

"That mean you're actually happy to see it's just little old me?" She teased, a wry smile on her lips.

She could see a small smirk tugging on the edge of his lip, but he just continued to work on the boat.

She sauntered down the stairs and looked at the skeletal wooden frame, admiring it.

"Why ya here?" Gibbs finally asked, pausing his repetitive sanding to give her a questioning look.

"Oh," she said, remembering that she had actually come here with a purpose, even if it was mostly just a lame excuse to find out more about her boss's personal life. "I was at the office pretty late, and Terry got a match on that last sample, matched it to Petty Officer Munich."

"Didn't have to personally drop by for that, already knew that would be the result from all the other samples. Could've waited till morning," he responded, his eyebrows furrowing at her in confusion.

He was right; it really was pointless for her to be here, and she couldn't just pretend it wasn't.

"I suppose I wanted to see if the rumors about your boat were true," she admitted, looking at the wooden structure to avoid his eyes.

"Guess you got your answer," he said, putting his sander down and turning to the counter in the corner.

She moved over to where he had been and grabbed the sander, brushing it across a random part of the wood. In an instant he was suddenly beside her.

He placed his hand over hers on the sander, stopping her movements, making her skin feel warm and tingly. He lifted his other hand up to his mouth and licked the tip of his finger – something she realized she found far too attractive – and he brushed the finger on the wood.

"With the grain of the wood," he muttered. He used his hand over hers to move the sander, showing her how to move it, before he went back to rummaging around the counter.

"You familiar with this new advance in technology called power tools?" She teased.

He remained quiet for a minute, seemingly absorbed in his search around the counter and shelves.

"Close your eyes," he requested suddenly.

She looked over at him and arched an eyebrow in question, wondering where he was going with this.

"Come on, just gonna' show you somethin'," he prompted, looking amused by her uncertainty.

She hesitated, hoping he wasn't up to something – like trying to get revenge on her for stealing some of his coffee earlier that day. She gave in to his request with a dramatic sigh and closed her eyes, trying to prepare herself.

"This isn't one of those situations where I'll open my eyes to find you suddenly naked, right?" She mocked, laughing to herself.

He snorted in response, and she could practically feel him rolling his eyes.

She wasn't prepared for his abrupt proximity, her mind going blank as she felt him move up behind her and press his body against hers. She was thrown off – she had never been this close to him before; hell, this was the closest she had been to any man in months. Maybe he knew that, and his warm and comfortable physical proximity was him exacting his revenge.

His arms snaked around hers, securing both of her hands on the sander before placing his hands over hers. He began to slowly move the sander up.

"Concentrate on the way it feels, Jen," he said softly.

She really couldn't concentrate on anything else but the way this felt right now, him against her, the way it made her feel whenever he called her "Jen".

"It's a different kind of feel," he explained, still slowly moving their hands up.

It sure was.

"Mm?" He grunted, taking the sander off the wood and lowering their hands back down, starting to sand up again. "You feel the wood?"

She could barely hold back a snort, fighting with all her willpower to not laugh.

"You don't get a sensation like that from a power tool."

At that she lost all control, her eyes shooting open as she began to laugh.

"What?" He asked, looking amused by her laughter.

Was he really that oblivious to the innuendo of his demonstration? Or was he perhaps pretending he hadn't been shamelessly flirting with her?

"Nothing," she said in between laughs, inhaling a breath to calm down, "It's just funny...the boat, you teaching me how to sand it...I'm just tired, ignore me," she apologized, still trying to steady her laughter.

His hands slipped off of hers and he backed away from her, turning back to the counter, and she suddenly felt the irrational impulse to turn around and pull him back to her.

It was definitely time to leave – now that her desires had gone from snooping on her boss to wanting to do...well... _other_ illogical things.

"Well, I need to get home, get some rest. I'll see you at work tomorrow," she said hastily, putting the sander down and retreating towards the stairs. "Thanks for putting up with me and my snooping, and the boat demonstration," she added as she reached the top of the stairs.

He just grunted in response, and when she turned to glance at him she swore he looked disappointed. She decided she was probably just imagining it because she secretly wanted him to be disappointed.

Even if he had been shamelessly flirting, even if he was disappointed she was leaving, it would be a terrible idea to cross their professional boundaries. She knew it was better if she just left.

The cool night air seemed welcoming as she closed his front door behind her. She had been feeling a little too warm in that basement.

She shook her head at herself as she walked to her car. She hated that she'd been developing feelings for her gruff, rude, stubborn, old, arrogant...blue eyed, silver haired, skilled, manly, hands on…

She put her head in her hand and groaned.

* * *

The next morning, Jenny Shepard exited her vehicle, grateful for the chill in the morning air that hit her face. It would be a good cover – hiding the fact that her cheeks were actually red from blushing. She'd been fighting the blush all morning, and had actually dreaded coming into work for once in her life. Hopefully a nice distracting case would come up.

She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. The doors closed around her and left her trapped with her thoughts.

Her dream had started so innocent…

 _She sat at her desk, working as usual. The whole team was sitting at their desks, silently doing paperwork – Stan Burley to her left; William Decker directly across from him; Gibbs directly across from her._

 _She glanced up at Gibbs, noticing how his blue polo shirt perfectly complimented his handsome blue eyes. He looked up and met her eyes, causing her to quickly look back down at her paperwork, embarrassed that he had caught her staring. She could still feel his eyes on her as she worked._

" _Boss?"_

 _Jenny glanced up at the sound of Decker's voice._

 _Gibbs just grunted in response, and she looked back at him – his eyes were still glued to her._

" _Me n' Burley are going to lunch," Decker informed him._

 _Gibbs grunted again to show he had heard, not taking his eyes off of her, while Decker and Burley walked off to the elevator._

 _She couldn't tell what he was thinking, and she couldn't concentrate on her work with him looking at her like that._

 _She looked back down and heard the ding of the elevator closing. Then she heard movement across from her. She looked up again to find Gibbs strolling over to her._

" _Jen," he greeted, his eyes boring into hers._

" _Jethro," she responded, starting to feel wary._

 _He walked right up to her side, looking down at her, and then leaned back against her desk. He lifted one of his hands, licked his finger, and then eased his hand down. He brushed the back of her hand with the finger, sending waves of good tingly sensations across her body, and let his finger continue off of her hand and slide across the desk. He lifted the finger up and pulled it back with the rest of his fingers, making a fist, and gently rapped her desk with his knuckles three times._

" _You know what kind of wood that is?" He questioned, his gaze downright smoldering._

 _She felt like she couldn't think properly, feeling absorbed by him, wanting him to touch her again. She looked down at the desk._

" _These desks aren't made of wood, they're Formica," she commented smartly, trying to distract herself from her increasingly inappropriate thoughts._

" _Who says I was talking about the desk?" He asked, a huge smirk playing across his face._

 _She was suddenly aware of how empty the building was – where was everyone? It was only the afternoon, yet it was just her and Gibbs...all alone._

 _He reached his hand out and brushed her lips with his thumb, resting it above her chin and curling his forefinger underneath. He tilted her head up and leaned down, his lips crashing with hers..._

The ding sounded – causing Jenny to jolt a little in alarm, having been distracted by thoughts of her rather...uh.. _steamy_ dream. It was going to be a long day if it continued to be this consistently distracting.

Normally she had a hard time ever recalling dreams, unless they were horrible ones involving her father that jolted her awake. Now, suddenly, this particular embarrassing dream she could remember far too much of. Just her luck.

The elevator doors opened and she peeked out hesitantly, hoping that she wouldn't have to face Gibbs right off the bat, and hoping that the redness she could feel in her cheeks would disappear as soon as possible. She walked out and headed to the bullpen.

She noticed that both Stan Burley and William Decker were already at their desks. Normally she and Gibbs were always the first to be at work, as well as the last to leave – but she was a little later than normal this morning, due to being somewhat distracted and lost in thought.

"Hey there, Red," Burley greeted cheerfully, "You're a little late this morning, it's already almost zero eight hundred. Get distracted with some guy this morning? Perhaps one who stayed the night?" He fished, looking highly amused.

She felt her cheeks get even redder – she had been distracted with a guy all morning, and a part of her wished it wasn't all in her head. She felt a surge of irritation; hating that her once purely professional thoughts were becoming blurred into something else entirely.

"I told you to quit calling me that," she snapped, giving him a harsh glare. "It's Shepard. Next time you use that stupid nickname I'm going to shove my heel so far up your ass..."

"Fine, _Shepard_ , "Red" just seems more fitting, you know, considering the color of your face matches your hair today," he retorted, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's cold out," she replied stiffly, putting her purse under her desk and slipping her coat off.

"Not _that_ cold. You sure you're not still just a little overheated from whatever you were _doing_ this morning?" He mocked, chuckling to himself.

"Perhaps I'm just overheated from all the murderous thoughts I keep having about you," she retaliated testily, sitting down and pulling a file in front of her.

"Yeesh, never mind," Burley scoffed, "if you'd been getting any you wouldn't be this crabby," he said, looking at her warily. "Unless it just wasn't any good..."

"Shut the hell up and leave Jenny alone," Decker said, groaning in frustration, "Get some work done before Gibbs gets back, he's the one who does get real 'crabby' and I'd like to avoid that today."

"Where is Gibbs?" Jenny asked, glancing over to his empty desk.

"Pacci told us he's in MTAC talking with Director Morrow, should be back down soon," Decker replied.

She continued to gaze at Gibbs desk, wondering how the hell she was supposed to possibly be able to concentrate in the bullpen today when everything reminded her about her stupid dream. If she hadn't gone to his damn house the other night she wouldn't even be dealing with this. She knew it was their interaction last night that had triggered the dream, because she had kept thinking about the way his body felt behind her, the way his hands felt over hers...

She hated herself for secretly fantasizing about her boss, especially since she'd only known him about six months. They worked together quite well, occasionally butting heads and disagreeing, yet also strangely seamlessly in sync.

Burley insisted that Gibbs treated her differently because she was just an attractive redheaded female – Gibbs type, apparently – but she sensed it was more than that. They seemed to have a silent understanding of each other, even though they never talked much about their personal lives. The many nights that they both worked late, both avoiding their lonely homes, seemed to forge an unspoken assimilated bond.

Though, she did wonder if Burley was partially right and Gibbs was attracted to her. She'd certainly found herself attracted to him lately. They had really good banter sometimes, and she felt like their interactions had been getting subtly more flirtatious – but perhaps that was just her.

No...he had to be physically attracted to her, because the way he pressed his body against hers the other night was such an obvious play – the one that guys used when showing a girl how to swing a baseball bat.

And damn, she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy him using that completely cliché and overused play on her – obviously enough that it had brought about such an intense torrid dream. That dream…

"Hey, Jenny," Decker's voice called out.

Jenny snapped out of it, realizing with a blush that she had been staring attentively at Gibbs desk this entire time. She silently reprimanded herself for losing concentration.

"What?" She asked, turning her attention down to the file on her desk, hoping he wouldn't notice the flush on her cheeks if she didn't look directly at him.

"You okay?" Decker asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" She replied, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Oh, you just seemed kind of...never mind. You were probably just thinking, sorry," Decker apologized, going back to his own work.

She realized she really needed to try hard on focusing today, and not letting her mind wander.

"Thanks for your concern anyway, Will, good to know you have my back," she responded, giving him a small smile before looking back down at her file.

"You know," Burley piped up after a minute, "I'll bet Shepard was just thinking about getting laid—"

The smack that sounded across the bullpen alerted Jenny to the fact that Gibbs had just come back down from MTAC. Jenny glanced up to see him giving Burley a death glare as Burley rubbed the back of his head, wincing in pain.

She realized Gibbs was wearing one of his blue polo shirts – just like in the dream – and she cursed inwardly, deciding that life must have it out for her today. Gibbs looked in her direction and she quickly looked back down at the file in front of her.

She couldn't look him in the eyes, she felt like he would be able to read her mind, like he would see the sinful images from her dream. How their lips and hands had been all over each other...how they made frenzied passionate love in this very bullpen, at her desk and his. It had certainly been one wild dream.

She closed her eyes and held in a frustrated sigh, hoping that against all odds she would just magically forget the dream and mentally move on with her life. Maybe she could get Gibbs to head slap her so hard she'd experience some amnesia – then she could simultaneously hate him for head slapping her, and not remember the dream or last nights events.

"Only thing any of you should be thinking about is work," Gibbs said to them all as he sat down at his desk. "No case today, and the Director's on my ass about how behind our team is on paperwork," he said indignantly.

Jenny looked over at Decker, who was looking put out; he hadn't gotten his wish of avoiding Gibbs crabby mood today. None of them liked sitting at their desks all day doing paperwork, especially Gibbs – it was definitely going to be a long day with the disgruntled boss. Jenny felt some hope in the fact that his foul mood could perhaps alter her current thoughts on him.

"I'm going for more coffee," Gibbs announced grumpily, getting up and leaving the bullpen.

Jenny felt like punishing herself with her own head slap when she realized she was very clearly checking out his ass while he stormed out.

* * *

As the morning wore on and turned into afternoon, they were all still sitting at their desks trying to concentrate on the mass amounts of paperwork they had to do. They were all incredibly bored, especially Burley, and Gibbs had already snapped at him several times for being distracting.

Jenny had resolutely ignored Burley every single time he tried to goad or distract her, because she didn't want to draw any attention to herself from Gibbs. Normally she liked annoying Gibbs just a little for fun, but not today. She had adamantly tried to keep her eyes on the work in front of her, but she had still found herself staring at Gibbs several times today, each time resulting in her looking back down in embarrassment when he would make eye contact.

 _Damn his blue eyes and damn that stupid blue shirt_ , she thought bitterly.

She felt eyes on her and looked up to see Gibbs staring at her, looking puzzled, and she quickly looked back down.

"Coffee," Gibbs simply said, and she heard him get up and leave. This time she purposefully kept her head down so as not to creepily check him out again. When she heard the elevator close she looked back up at Gibbs desk, feeling like she could relax a little more without his presence.

If she was going to be this ridiculous all day then Burley was probably right, she really needed to get laid.

She thought about how in the dream, Gibbs had swiped all the papers and items on his desk away with his hand before lifting her up onto it and…

Someone whistled, startling Jenny. She looked up in alarm to find both Decker and Burley standing near her desk, giving her strange looks.

"Shepard?" Burley said warily when she looked at them.

"What?" She asked, trying to brush away her thoughts, internally rebuking herself for getting caught off guard – yet again.

"Jenny, you okay?" Decker questioned cautiously. "You've been looking at Gibbs weird all day, and now you're looking at Gibbs desk weird...again..."

She blushed for the hundredth time today, not aware that she had been that damn obvious and out of it all day. If they had noticed, then Gibbs had _definitely_ noticed.

 _I should've just called in sick today…_

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just...tired, worked late last night, felt kind of, uh, feverish this morning, having a hard time concentrating," she half lied.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jenny," Decker said sympathetically. "See, Stan?" He said, punching Burley in the shoulder, causing Burley to protest. "She was feeling feverish this morning, that's probably why she's been flushed. You should apologize for teasing her all day."

"Fine," Burley spat out while rubbing his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Shepard, didn't know you were feeling sick."

Jenny only felt a little guilty that her lie had resulted in Decker punishing Burley – mostly she felt sort of a triumphant sense of satisfaction over it.

"It's fine, I'm okay. Sorry I've been out of it today," she replied.

"Well, me and Stan are going out to grab some lunch before Gibbs gets back, you want to join us?" Decker offered.

"No, I'm not feeling hungry right now, but thanks for the offer, Will," she replied, giving him a grateful smile.

"All right, if you're sure, might be one of the last chances to get anything before the end of the shift. We could also bring you back something."

"I'm really okay, thanks. You guys have a good lunch," she said, waving them off.

As soon as they were gone she put her head in her hands and sighed loudly. She really didn't know what to do with herself, and since it was only past 13:00 she still had at least 6 hours of this.

She enjoyed five minutes of peace, collecting her thoughts and finishing up the task she was in the middle of. Then she got up and wandered off to the cafeteria, deciding to grab a cool drink and a snack from one of the vending machines. As soon as she walked back into the bullpen she stopped when she realized Gibbs was back in his desk sipping on his fresh coffee. Just like in the dream – Burley and Decker were gone to lunch, and it was just her and Gibbs, in his stupid blue polo.

Maybe it hadn't been a dream, maybe she was in some twisted loop like that movie she watched the other week, _Groundhog Day_.

She was about to turn around and just hide out in the cafeteria until the guys got back, but Gibbs looked up and noticed her before she could make her escape.

"Decker and Burley?" Gibbs asked.

"Lunch," she replied, avoiding looking at him while she walked back to her desk with her drink and snack in hand.

She sat down and uncapped her drink, taking a long swig, and as she swallowed she made the mistake of glancing at Gibbs again, staring a second longer than she meant to. Gibbs looked up at her and she hastily looked down again, realizing that doing so was just making things even more obvious, so she looked back up at him.

"Shepard?" He inquired, looking concerned and tilting his head curiously at her.

"Hmm?" She replied, trying not to blush again as they looked at each other.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He questioned, looking both amused and perplexed.

"What? Nothing," she shot out, realizing she sounded more defensive than she meant to. She looked away feeling flustered. "I, uh, forgot I needed to ask Ducky something...told him I'd...anyway, I'll be in Autopsy, be back soon..." she stammered, trailing off awkwardly as she got up to head to the elevator.

She couldn't stand the awkwardness of being alone with him right now, nor could she handle the embarrassment that she was utterly failing at acting like a normal human being today.

* * *

Jenny got off the elevator and walked into Autopsy, where Pacci was conversing with Ducky over a body.

"Ah, Jennifer, my dear, how good to see you," Ducky said, looking over at her. "What can I do for you? I've just finished talking with Christopher about his body. I know your team doesn't have one right now, so I assume you are here for something else?"

"I didn't need anything, Ducky, thank you. I was just taking a break, decided to come down here and hang out," she explained.

"I see," Ducky said with a wry smile, "avoiding Jethro, I assume. I heard he hasn't exactly been, shall we say, 'pleased', about being at his desk all day."

"You could certainly say that," Jenny said with a snort.

"I'm sure your team will pick up a new case soon and he'll cheer up," Pacci said with a laugh.

"Well, I'd certainly like the distraction of a case too," Jenny mused.

"Scuttlebutt is you've been kind of out of it today," Pacci stated.

Both he and Ducky were giving her curious looks.

"I'm surprised Burley finds my behavior so wholly fascinating that he feels the need to keep everyone else constantly updated on it," she retorted.

"Stanley has always been rather curious about everything surrounding him, especially when he's bored," Ducky commented, a smile spreading on his face.

"He clearly needs a hobby, perhaps he should take up boat building like Gibbs," Jenny said with a smirk, making Ducky chuckle.

Pacci was still staring at her, as if he was trying to analyze her

"Is everything all right? You're doing okay here, at NCIS, right? I know some guys around the office can be a little...disrespectful, towards women," Pacci said carefully.

"Indeed," Ducky agreed, both looking at her with concern.

Pacci and Ducky had been two men at the office who instantly seemed to have her back, and always treated her with the utmost respect. She had been very grateful for their help and presence during her last six months of working at NCIS. She trusted them both.

"No, it's nothing like that, I'm doing just fine," she replied hastily, feeling bad that they seemed to think a bigger issue had been bothering her. "Really, it's been great working here, and I've finally adjusted to everything."

They didn't look entirely convinced.

" _Really_ ," she emphasized, laughing a little at their protective behavior. "I just had a crazy dream last night, haven't been able to get it out of my head all day," she explained.

"Ah, dreams," Ducky commented as he and Pacci both visibly relaxed. "You know," he lifted a finger, "it was the great Langston Hughes who wrote, 'Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field, frozen with snow'. I suppose when we can't seem to stop thinking about a dream, we are taking his advice in a way and holding fast..."

"I've got to get back up, Ducky, thanks for the information," Pacci said over Ducky's voice, glancing down at his watch and heading towards the door. He shot Jenny an amused smirk as Ducky continued to talk in the background. She supposed she'd rather stay down here and listen to Ducky than be in the bullpen alone with Gibbs right now.

"You know, dreams can be more significant than we realize," Ducky continued. "It was Freud who believed that dreams are the royal road to the unconscious..."

Ten minutes later Jenny was leaving Autopsy, deciding that Burley and Decker should be back at that point. She had politely excused herself, leaving Ducky to continue his ramblings to the body on his table. He had gone from talking about dreams to a string of other related topics, and while Ducky's vast knowledge was always fascinating, she had reached her limit in thinking today.

She smirked, thinking about what Ducky had said about "the significance of dreams". Apparently her deepest unconscious desire was to bang it out with her boss in the middle of the bullpen.

Great.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone by more smoothly. Jenny had slowly begun to immerse herself in work and had pretty much forgotten the dream.

At seventeen hundred they got called out to a suspected suicide out in the heights just to double check. By the time they got back from the scene, finished up the paperwork they had been doing throughout the day, and then did the added paperwork from the suicide, it was nearing twenty hundred.

"All right, go home, get some rest," Gibbs called out from his desk tiredly.

Decker and Burley both instantly got up, looking immensely grateful to be done as they quickly rushed to the elevator.

Jenny rubbed her eyes and started to clear the things around her desk.

"Ah, Jethro, I was hoping I'd catch you before you'd left," Ducky announced cheerfully as he emerged into the bullpen.

"What's up, Duck?" Jethro asked, tipping his empty coffee cup off his desk into the trash.

"Well I just thought you might find this interesting," Ducky said, holding out an item. "I have a friend who gifted this to me, they apparently bought it off a gentleman who does custom pieces. I know you are quite skilled yourself with such things." He placed the item on Gibbs desk, and looked over at Jenny. "You may find this interesting as well, my dear," he said with a warm smile.

Jenny grabbed her things and wandered over to the desk, peering down curiously.

It was an elegant, glossy, rectangular wooden box, with beautiful tiny carvings and patterns all over it. She took in all the little details, thinking about how it must have taken an incredible amount of work to create. She touched one side of the box gently, smiling at a tiny little duck she saw carved in one spot. She let her finger glide over the minuscule patterns outlining the bottom edges.

"It's beautiful," Jenny commented, looking at Ducky and smiling.

Gibbs grunted his approval.

"Yes it rather is," Ducky replied. "I'm going to drop this file over to Pacci's desk," Ducky said, holding up a folder in his hands before he wandered over to another section of the bullpen.

Jenny was gently opening up the lid of the box and looking inside when Gibbs spoke up.

"You know what kind of wood that is?" He asked.

She froze.

"What?" She questioned, closing the box and looking at him guardedly.

"I asked if you knew what kind of wood this is," he repeated, tapping the box with his finger.

She stiffened, not really sure how to react. The peace she had felt from not thinking about that stupid, _damn dream_ was completely shattered. She moved one hand over her arm and pinched herself, double checking that she wasn't dreaming.

It was too much of a coincidence, it was like life was completely screwing with her. Once again she found herself questioning if this wasn't all some twisted thing like _Groundhog Day_.

"Shepard? You okay?" Gibbs questioned.

She blushed as she looked into his eyes, feeling flustered, feeling tired from the long day.

She felt like either punching him or grabbing his face and kissing him, and neither of those feelings was remotely appropriate. She was too tired to deal, she needed to go home.

"Jen?" He questioned again, the concern in his voice and the use of her nickname making her feel even more flustered.

"Fine," she spat out, turning on her heel and marching out of the bullpen.

"Jen! What did I say?" He asked, raising his voice as she retreated.

She very forcefully hit the call elevator button, deciding that if she had another stupid dream like that tonight she was definitely calling in sick tomorrow.

"Jethro, what did you do to her now?" She heard Ducky ask Gibbs, as if he was some misbehaving child.

"Didn't do a damn thing," Gibbs snapped.

"Well I doubt that, you certainly have a way with people," Ducky retorted.

The elevator doors finally opened and Jenny stepped in, hitting the button for the parking garage.

" _Women_!" she heard Gibbs respond edgily as the doors closed.

She decided she was going to do her best to annoy the hell out of him for at least a week.

* * *

END

* * *

 _Thanks for reading!_


End file.
